Container capping device



Feb. 1s, 1951 T. A. NLSON 2,541,601

CONTAINER CARRYING DEVICE Fehn, 1951 -T,A,NELSON I 2,541,601

CONTAINER CARRYING DEVICE y Filed Sept'. 16, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet .2

lunmnm f8 Elllllllmf /7 1 ur 'f' BY l Feb. 13, 1951. T A NELSON2,541,601

CONTAINER CARRYING DEVICE Filed Sept. 16, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V ENTOR.

Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER' CAPPINGDEVICE? Thomas A. Nelson, Chicago, Ill.,

Application September 16, 1944, Serial No. 5545381 (Cl. 226f-83) lClaim.

--Myinvention relates to an improvement in containercapping device.

It is well knownv that container capping de vices of conventional designare relatively slow in,l operationfcomplicated and unwieldly,v havingmany moving and integrated parts, and that same are costly to make andto operate, and require the attendance of many and highly skilledworkmen tooperate. It is also well known that duc to the complicateddesign of the conventional con-tainer capping machines, breakdownsof'saidmachines often occur, and repair and re- Plmnt of various partsis. required frequently. ltyisalSQ Well known that in the operation ofconvcllonal` machines a comparatively high` rate o fbreakage ofvcontainers occurs during the cap- Bmg process'. These conditionsincrease the cost ofiv Qafpprlg Aand decrease the production of cappedvcontainers.

It is further well known that container capping machines ofconventionalv design are sOmeWhat hazardous to operateboth from thestandpoint of the operation of the machines themselves and also becauseof container break'4 age, and consequently a container capping devicewhich would lessen this hazard would be very desirable both from themanufacturersy and opcraters standpoints.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved, efcient, fast andreliable container capping device of simple construction and; operation.

Another object is to' provide a container capping machine inexpensive toproduce and which would require the service of fewer endless skilledoperators than is required with conventional capping devices.

V A further/object of my invention is to provide improvedcontainerjcapping device which will ba safer to operate and cause adecreased amount of; breakage ofv containers being capped.

Other objects and advantages will appear as my invention is hereinafterdeveloped.

y In one embodiment of my invention, a punch press of theJ usualconstruction, comprising a stand with a bed afxed to it andv having apunch slide,Y capable of descendingy or ascending at the willl o f theoperator positioned. over said bed, is provided withl a capping deviceconsistingof three main units, viz., a cylindrical housing having ahollow stemV extending therefrom which is adapted tobe tted into and.aflixed to the recip rocating member of the punch, press; a pistonhaving an aperture in the center of its head is fittedv ireelv into. thecrlindrical interior of the housing andf fastened` thereto` by springs.and guides so as to allow freedom of. movement o1; said piston in a lineparallel and concentric withthe axis of the cylindrical` housing.Thehousing is vented to prevent entrapment of air betweenz the pistonhead and the cylinder head of the housing. PistonV has tapered internal`walls, the, taper being such that the internal diameter of the piston issmaller at the piston head than it; is at itsV lower extremity. Aplunger is mounted with-in the piston with the stein extending throughtheE piston. head and into; the hollow stemv of` thenousing-- Thisplunger is. spring-. mounted to the housing by the insertion of a coilspring within, the hollow stem or, the: housing such a manner as toyencircle the plunger stem and allow free relative movement, between saidparts so that the` plunger may move in a line parallel to and concentricwith the axis ofthe cylindrical housing and piston.

There are many other possible arrangements and shapes of these threeYmain units, as the housing, piston and plunger do not have to be,ycylindrical but could be elliptical, square, or any other shape, andsuch is the contemplation of' this invention. Likewise, the plunger`does not necessarily have. to` have a@ steml extending` there--` frombut could instead be simply a diser spring mounted to the piston inwhich it operates. Also, the piston headr in this. case would not thenhave an aperture for the allowance of the introductionI of the plungerstem therethrough. Also, thecy lindrical. walls or the housing could beeliminated and still have this mechanism operated properly, andl thatisy the contemplation of; this invention, itbeingclearly understood thatthe embodiment herein described ismsimply a preferred form1 ofmechanism. and not` the only form that.` is; worhable.

A more completev understaruiingl of my inl/tenticnfmar be had fromtheiollcwius complete. de. scriptionin conj unction` with the appendeddraw, ings', in, which Figure. 1` is a side elevation of the. completeLcontainer capping.y device including a motoroperated punch press... a.capping. unit, the con tainer, the. container cap. and the corniainer;`guidaA Figurez is a detailed elevation ot the, capping', unit in. whicha cutaway view disclosing cross-sectional details. is shown.

Figure 3 is a planview of` thiscapping unit.

` Figure. lV isv a fragmentary detailed cross-sec,- tional viewshowing.A thecondition o the capiedge before. bending into,` grippingContact with tnebd OIL i135. COIIQILBYL @mi Figure is the sameapproximate view as Figure 4 after the bending unit of the cappingmechanism has bent the cap flange into gripping contact with the annularbead on the container.

My preferred form of improvementl in container capping device comprisesa conventional punch press made up of a rigid stand 31, a punch pressbed 32, affixed to said stand, a punch slide 38, guided byslide guide4I, affixed to the'stand by bolts 42, and connected to crank shaft 5Ithrough connecting rod 44, from bearing 43 in the punch slide to bearing45 in the crank shaft, said crank shaft being rotated by movement ofywheel 55 through reduction gears. Flywheel 55 being rotated by electricmotor 53 through pulley 51 connected to motor shaft 58. Power from saidmotor being transmitted to the flywheel from the motor by means of belt54 connecting motor pulley 51 and flywheel pulley 53, the motor beinganchored to standard 59 through its base 60. Ihe stamping reaction beingtransmitted through the capping device to the punch press slide 38 andthrough the train of shafts and bearings to the punch press stand 31through the beam action of beam 52.

Inserted in the punch press slide 38 and aflixed thereto is the cappingdevice, said capping device consisting of a cylindrical housing IIhaving a hollow stem Ill extending therefrom. A piston I2 is mounted tosaid cylindrical housing by means of bolts and springs 2l, said springsbeing inserted in indentations 22 in the housing and indentations 23 inthe piston head, the bolts 20 acting as guides to allow the piston tomove in a line parallel to the axis of the housing and concentric withsame. The springs 2| under compression force the piston head away fromthe cylinder head of the housing but allow this gap to be closed uponproper relative pressure being brought to force the piston head intocloser conjunction with the cylinder head of the housing. In order toavoid entrapment of air in the space included between the piston headand the cylinder head of the housing, vents 25 have been introduced intothe housing. The interior walls 24 of the piston I2 are tapered so thatthe internal diameter of the piston at its head is smaller than theinternal diameter of the piston at its lower edge.

"A plunger I3, having a stem I4 extending therefrom is inserted into theinterior of the piston so that plunger stem I4 extends through theaperture 26 in the piston head. Said plunger stem further extendsthrough the hollowstem III of the housing. The diameter of the plungerstem I4 is enoughsmaller than the internal diameter ofthe hollow stem I0of the housing to allow the introduction-of-compression spring I 5 insuch a manner as to encircle plunger stem I 4 and tend to forcev theplungerv I3 downward until stop nut I1,-secured in-place by lock nut I8,comes into contact with the upper surface of the housing I6, which saidstop nut I1 determines the maximum thrust downward of the plunger I3.Expansion and impact strains in the housing are taken up through thecircular groove 21 cut into the cylin-v drical housing at the base ofthe housing stem. A'container 29 having a cap 28 covering the opening insame and extending beyond said opening,

and having an annular bead 30 aflixed to or monolithic with the exterioredge of its opening is placed on bed 32 against guide 34 which in turnis bolted to bed 32 by bolts 31B through shaft 33. This guide hasadjustable slots through which thev bolts 36 extend in order to allowadjustment in placing. Plunger I3 descends upon cap 28 and holds itfirmly in place on container 29 over the opening in said container, theouter fiange 3| extending beyond the annular bead 30 and beingreinforced by serrations 6I. Piston I2 having internally tapered wall24, upon further descent presses flange 3|, serrations 5I and cap edgeindentations 62 into gripping contact with annular bead 30 permanentlyfastening cap 28 to container 29.

Upon assent of punch press slide 38 the capping unit is withdrawn fromcontact with the cap and container, said capped container then beingleft free for removal from the machine.

Other modifications and adaptations of the above disclosures arecontemplated, and it is understood that my invention is limited only bythe scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination, a container capping` press comprising a stand, areciprocating member mounted on said stand, means for causing the re"ciprocating member to descend and rise, a bed mounted below saidreciprocating member, und guide afxed to said bed elTective to determinethe proper placing of a container thereonfor capping, and a cappingdevice comprising a stemmed base member, the upper portion of which is ahollow cylindrical stem of relativelyI small diameter adapted to beaffixed to the rel-l ciprocating member and the lower portion of whichis a hollow cylinder of a large diameterx'- edly attached to the stemmedportion and havingH vent and ,guide holes in the head of the lowercylinder, a hollow cylindrical piston-like capv bending member ttedwithin the lower cylinder of the base member having vertical exteriorwalls and tapered internal walls and having an operi'-l ing inthe'center of its head, said cap bending member being flexibly mountedto the base member and guided by the contact of its exterior walls withthe interior walls of the base member' so as to be movable only in aline parallel to the'v axis of the stem of the base member,rigid'protuberances affixed to the head of the capbend-v ing member andextending upwardly therefrom into and through the guide holes in thebase member elective to mechanically stabilize the limiting of themovement of the cap bending member to a direction parallel with thevertical axis of the stem of the base member and control said movementso as to prevent descent of the cap bending member beyond arvpredeterr'ninled position, and a stemmed plunger spring mountedv withinthe base member by extensionV of the stem 4 upwardly through the centerhole in the capfjf bending member and into and through the hollow? stemof the base member effective to limitthe movement of the plunger to aline parallely withfthe vertical axis of the stem of the base memberandprevent its descent beyond a predetermined position, the foregoingcapping device being effective, upon descent of the reciprocatingmember, to cause the plunger to vdescendupon and hold a cap firmly inplace on a container over its opening without causing excessive pressureon such cap and upon further descent of the recip rocating member tocausethe cap bending mem-y s 2,541,601 the reciprocating member torelease such capped container for removal from the capping device.

UNI'I'ED STATES PAJI'ErI'rSJ Number Name Date THOMAS A NELSON 850,288Beyer Apr. 16, 1907 f 949,478y Hicks Feb. 15 1910 REFERENCES CITED1,348,908 Taylor Aug. 10,' 1920 The following references are of recordin the 1,434,415 Taylor Nov. '7, 1922 le of this patent: 2,142,302

Burrell Jan. 3, 1939

